Battle of Balasore

Last updated
Battle of Balasore
Part of Dano-Mughal War
Moored boats from Arakan or Chittagong.jpg
Moored boats near the Bengali Coast, by Thomas Prinsep in c. 1828.
Date26 December 1647
Location 21°30′12″N86°55′30″E / 21.50333°N 86.92500°E / 21.50333; 86.92500
Result See Aftermath
Belligerents
Danish Colonial Merchant Ensign India.png  Danish India Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Bengal Subah British East India Company flag.svg British East India
Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg Dutch India
Commanders and leaders
Danish Colonial Merchant Ensign India.png Willem Leyel
Danish Colonial Merchant Ensign India.png Christen Clausen
Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Malik Beg
Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Local nawab
British East India Company flag.svg Richard Hudson
Units involved
Danish Colonial Merchant Ensign India.png Christianhavn
Danish Colonial Merchant Ensign India.png The Bengali Prize
Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Unknown Unknown
Strength
5 Ships Multiple ships
16 guns
1000 men
British East India Company flag.svg+13 ships
Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg 2 ships
Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg 60 men
Casualties and losses
None 1 ship
8 elephants
British East India Company flag.svg9-12 ships

The Battle of Balasore (Danish : Slaget ved Balasore) was an engagement between Bengali and English ships against Danish ships at Balasore. When the English failed to persuade the Danes, the Bengalis started attacking the English vessel, yet the English were rescued by the Dutch.

Contents

Background

In 1643 Willem Leyel deposed governor Bernt Pessart as overhoved of Danish India. [1] In the preceding year, Pessart had declared war on the Mughal Empire. [2] Leyel continued the privateering war against the Mughals as a source of revenue and income. [3]

In 1647 the privateer war still waged, and in December of that year, a noticeable incident was recorded by the English at Balasore. [3]

Battle

The English at Balasore was given a good reception at Balasore. [4] Yet when a Danish fleet of five ships, including Christianshavn and The Bengali Prize, appeared things suddenly started to change. [4] The Danes had come to settle their long-standing grievances and debts against the Mughal authorities by force. [5]

Confrontation with the Danish

Mosque on the Booragunga Branch of the Ganges. A typical view from Bengal at that time. Charles D'Oyly06.jpg
Mosque on the Booragunga Branch of the Ganges. A typical view from Bengal at that time.

Danes seized one of the Moorish ships with eight elephants at the harbour. [6] At the request of Governor Malik Beg, the English twice attempted to persuade the escaping Danish fleet. [5] When this proved a failure for the English, the Mughals informed the English that they now would have to compensate for the damage made by the Danes since both Europeans were Christians. [5] [6]

Prelude

The English then tried to escape the harbour, yet were blockaded by the Mughals, who placed guns at strategic points and summoned a large force of soldiers. [6] Meanwhile, a letter from the Nawab arrived with a captain and 500 cavalry, demanding to meet the English outside of the town. [7] The English factors refused the demands of the letter. [8]

Battle

When the Nawab heard the English rejection he called c 1.000 soldiers and placed nine guns in strategic positions around the harbour. [8] [6] The following day additional guns were planted. [8] The English could not leave the harbour and the Budhabalanga River because of a blockade. [8] [6] The Bengalis had already seized 3-4 English boats and 6-8 smaller vessels in the river. [8]

Things escalated when the Bengalis fired at the British warehouse in Balasore. [8] The English took position with their guns and an ensuing confrontation lasted four hours. [8]

Because of the blockade, the Dutch East India Company's business was stopped and was thus forced to join the English course. [8] The Dutch send 60 men and 2 ships to Balasore, which unprovoked the attack on the English. [8]

Aftermath

At the time of the Battle the Danes had presumably already managed to bring themselves and their prize to safety. The war between the Danes and Mughals in Bengal hindered the prospects of trade between the English and Dutch at Balasore. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish India</span> Former settlements and trading posts of Denmark and Norway on the Indian subcontinent

Danish India was the name given to the forts and factories of Denmark in the Indian subcontinent, forming part of the Danish overseas colonies. Denmark–Norway held colonial possessions in India for more than 200 years, including the town of Tharangambadi in present-day Tamil Nadu state, Serampore in present-day West Bengal, and the Nicobar Islands, currently part of India's union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Danish and Norwegian presence in India was of little significance to the major European powers as they presented neither a military nor a mercantile threat. Dano-Norwegian ventures in India, as elsewhere, were typically undercapitalized and never able to dominate or monopolize trade routes in the same way that British, French, and Portuguese ventures could.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skirmish at Pipli</span> Confrontation between the Danes and Mughals in Pipli

The Skirmish at Pipli or more formally the Destruction of the Danish factory at Pipli, was one of the two recorded land confrontations between the Danish East India Company and the Mughal Empire during the Dano-Mughal War. The skirmish was a Mughal punitive expidition in retalition for the Danish arrest of a Persian merchant. The skirmish ended in a Mughal victory, and the Danish factory in Pipli was destroyed and burned down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish rescue mission to Pipli</span> Danish rescue mission in Bengal

The Danish rescue mission to Pipli refers to a rescue mission by the Danish East India Company to rescue, then recently, imprisoned Danes from Mughal imprisonment at the trading station of Pipely. The mission was successful and the six imprisoned Danes were freed. The mission can also be referred to as the Mission to pipli.

Capture of the ship <i>The Bengali Prize</i> 1642 Danish hijacking of a Bengali ship

The Capture of The Bengali Prize, or the Seizure of The Bengali Prize, was a Danish capture and seizure of a larger Bengali vessel in late 1642 in the Bay of Bengal. The capture is known to be the first confrontation of the Dano-Mughal War, after the formal declaration of war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willem Leyel's siege of Dansborg</span> Siege of Fort Dansborg, 1644

The Siege of Dansborg alternatively the Siege of Fort Dansborg sometimes also referred to as Willem Leyel's siege of Dansborg, was a siege initiated by traveler and seafarer, Willem Leyel, against the men loyal to governor Bernt Pessart. The siege was concluded after the men at Dansborg opened the gates for Willem Leyel, surrendered, and accepted Leyel as the new governor.

Willem Leyel or Willum Leyel was a Danish governor of Tranquebar and captain in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skirmish at the Strait of Malacca</span> Skirmish between Danes and Dutch in Malacca, 1644

The Skirmish at the Strait of Malacca was a skirmish in 1644 between the claimed governor of Tranquebar, Bernt Pessart, and the local authorities of Dutch Malacca. The confrontation led to the imprisonment or death of all of Pessart's crew and the confiscation of the vessel, Dend gode Haab. Although Pessart and his crew would later be released and cooperate with the Dutch to spy on the Spanish in Manila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambush near the Bay of Manila</span> Ambush of Danish and Dutch sailors in the Philippines, 1645

The Ambush near the Bay of Manila, alternatively the Death of Bernt Pessart, was an ambush by the Indigenous peoples of the Philippines, against a combined Dano-Dutch espionaging expeditionary force in 1645. The ambush led to the death of former governor and president of Danish India, Bernt Pessart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sieges of Tranquebar (1655–1669)</span> Sieges in Tranquebar, India 1655–1669

The Sieges of Tranquebar or the War between Tranquebar and Thanjavur refers to the warfare between the Thanjavur Nayak kingdom and Danish Tranquebar between 1655 – 1669. The Thanjavurian sieges were repelled, mainly due to the new fortifications being built around Tranquebar, and a peace agreement was issued in 1669.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conflict between Willem Leyel and Bernt Pessart</span> Conflict and Danish civil war in India, between 1643–1645

The Conflict between William Leyel and Bernt Pessart refers to the tensions and minor civil war between Willem Leyel and Bernt Pessart over the governorship of Tranquebar and the Danish East India Company. The conflict led to the escape of Bernt Pessart, and the command at Tranquebar accepted Willem Leyel as governor of Danish India.

Capture of the <i>St. Michael</i> Capture of Bengali ship by the Danes in 1644

The Capture of St. Michael or the Seizure of St. Michael, was a Danish seizure of a Bengali ship in the Bay of Bengal. The Danes captured the Bengali ship and the vessel was subsequently incorporated into the Danish Navy given the name St. Michael.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attack in Hooghly</span> Danish attack on Bengali vessels in Hooghly, 1671

The Attack in Hooghly was a Danish attack on two Bengali ships during the Dano-Mughal War in 1671. The Danes succeeded in blowing up the Bengali ships, and violence continued off the coasts of Kalingapatnam and Balasore.

Roland Crappé or Roelant Crappé was a Dutch colonial official serving the Dutch and Danish East India Company. He became director general of the Ceylonese department of the Danish East India Company in 1618 and became commander in chief and governor of Tranquebar upon his seventh arrival in the Indies in 1624. During his leadership, new factories and offices were established and Danish trade went exceptionally well. He died in 1644 only a few years after his homecoming to Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tranquebar Rebellion</span> 1648 rebellion in Danish India

The Tranquebar Rebellion also known as the TranquebarMutiny was a bloodless mutiny and uprising against the governor of Tranquebar, Willem Leyel, at Tranquebar in 1648. The mutineers succeeded in arresting Leyel, and he would be replaced by the leader of the rebellion, Paul Hansen Korsør.

Bernt Pessart, Berndt Pessart or Berent Pessart was a Dutch overhoved and self-proclaimed President of Danish India from 1636 to 1643. In his earlier years, he would serve the Dutch East India Company in Bantam, and in September 1636 he would land in Danish Tranquebar on the St. Jacob. Here he would serve the Danish East India Company until his deposure in 1643. His claim to being governor of Tranquebar, would lead to a confrontation known as the 1644 Skirmish at the Strait of Malacca with the local authorities of and end with the capture of Pessart and his crew. He again would serve the Dutch East India Company by espionage on the Spanish Philippines. He would die in June 1645 by an ambush of local natives near Manila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expulsion of Danes from Balasore</span> 1643/1644 ousting of Danes in Balasore

The Expulsion of Danes from Balasore was a violent expulsion and ousting of the Danish East India Company from the Mughal habour and trading hub of Balasore in 1643 or 1644 by the local Mughal governor, Malik Beg.

The frigate and man-of-war Flensborg, or Flensburg, was a Danish East Indiaman sent on 2 December 1629 to Tranquebar as the third cargo to India. However, it was blown up by the Portuguese off the Cape of Good Hope in 1630.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willem Leyel's war on Golconda</span> 1640s minor war in India

Willem Leyel's war on Golconda, or simply the Dano-Golconda War, was a brief privateering war between Sultanate of Golkonda and the Danish East India Company led by Willem Leyel. The hostilities quickly resulted in a peace treaty and the two parties would soon reconcile.

<i>Christianshavn</i> Incident 1640 naval incident

The Christianshavn Incident, also known as the Skirmish at Santa Cruz, was a minor incident and skirmish between Danish and Spanish military assets near Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Spain. The Danish vessel, Christianshavn, was badly wounded and the Danes had to retreat into habour, where they would be detained.

<i>Valby</i> Expedition of January 1644 1644 Danish privateering expedition in the Bay of Bengal

The Valby Expedition of January 1644, also sometimes spelled Valdebye, was a Danish privateering expedition against Bengali merchants in the Bay of Bengal in January 1644. The expedition was led by the Governor of Danish India, Willem Leyel, and executed by the sloop Valby. Leyel managed to seize a Bengali vessel, which included 34 slaves and seemingly converted them to Christianity.

References

Works cited